Macadamia traders and farmers have continued to flout a harvest and export ban of raw nuts, prompting a new crackdown by the agriculture sector regulator on the practice that is blighting the future of the crop in Kenya.
The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) said on Thursday that a routine surveillance of macadamia growing areas had revealed ongoing malpractices including harvesting, handling, trading, and processing immature nuts, as well as smuggling of raw nuts (nuts-in-shell) out of the country
AFA has also identified improper discharge of rejected low-quality nuts into the supply chain, where they are often mixed with higher-quality nuts and resold to unsuspecting processors.
Woes afflicting the multi-billion shilling macadamia were ignited by a fall in demand from 2023 in the US due to high inflation, and in China owing to prolonged Covid-19 led restrictions, which served to create a glut driving farm gate prices down from a high of Sh180 per kilogramme to Sh30.
In response, Kenya offered a moratorium on the regulatory ban on export of raw nuts for 13 months between November 2023 and December 2024. By temporarily lifting the export ban, the government hoped to open new markets for famers to reduce stocks.
According to local processors, the export window for raw nuts brought in new buyers from China whose demand exceeded supply, raising farm gate prices and encouraging farmers to harvest immature nuts to take advantage of the situation.
In order to deal with the problem of harvesting of immature nuts, Kenya barred harvesting of macadamia between November 2024 and March 2025. The move is, however, the subject of a petition at the High Court by a farmer from Embu, who argues that farmers risk losses if their mature nuts are left unharvested for the period the ban is in effect.
Now, AFA says that the harvesting and export of the raw, immature nuts has continued unabated despite the ban, prompting the move to intensify surveillance across macadamia-growing and trading regions, aggregation stores, processing facilities and exit points in collaboration with county governments and law enforcement agencies.
“It has come to the attention of AFA through its routine surveillance and reports from stakeholders that there has been a rise in malpractices within the macadamia nuts industry that compromised the integrity of the supply chain and undermine the reputation of Kenya’s Macadamia Industry,” said AFA Director General Bruno Linyiru in a statement on Thursday.
“Individuals or companies found engaging in the harvesting, trading, or processing of immature nuts... will face strict legal action,” added Dr Linyiru.
On their part, processors have been complaining that the harvest and export bans have been poorly implemented by AFA, therefore giving rogue operators room to continue operating. They also say the lure for an easy and quick payday has encouraged famers to flout the harvest ban, with the search for nuts encouraging poor harvesting techniques such as shaking of trees which hurt continued production down the road by dislodging flowers and underdeveloped nuts.
Some processors, including listed agriculture firm Sasini, say they were forced to shut their factories last year due to low supply of raw nuts, which coupled with low kernel prices in the US made continued production unviable.
“Volumes are going down because of these poor harvesting methods that disturb the trees before the nuts are ready,” said Frank Omondi, the founder and chief executive officer at Grow Fairly, a macadamia and cashew nuts processor based in Kilifi county.
“The farmers who harvest these immature nuts also lose out when they are left holding rejected nuts. The macadamia sector needs stronger structures, such as those in the tea and coffee sectors.”
Higher prices offered by raw nut buyers from China have set some farmers on a collision course with local processors. A farmer who emailed this publication after an earlier article on macadamia said Chinese buyers were offering between Sh180 and Sh200 per kilogramme for their produce, while also accusing local processors of pushing for the export ban in order to control prices.
Processors, however, argue that the nut-in-shell market is only currently benefiting a few farmers as most do not have access to direct markets, forcing the majority to rely on brokers.
Data from the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council shows that Kenya is the fourth largest producer of raw macadamia in the world with an annual output of about 46,000 tonnes in 2023, behind global leader South Africa (92,000 tonnes), China (68,500 tonnes) and Australia (56,000 tonnes).
In terms of kernel exports (shelled macadamia), Kenya’s output stood at 7,816 tonnes, earning the country Sh5.8 billion in 2023, as per latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
Murang’a, Meru and Embu counties are the top macadamia production areas in Kenya, with annual output of 666.5 tonnes, 451.8 tonnes and 320.2 tonnes respectively in 2023.
